Methods and Systems for Processing Dredge Spoils

ABSTRACT

Methods and systems including processing dredge spoils to reclaim soil therefrom. The techniques may include a feed system for receiving dredge spoils, a dewatering system for removing water from the dredge spoils, and a grinder/mixer for grinding the dredge spoils from the dewatering system while mixing the dredge spoils with one or more additional materials.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to Provisional Application No.61/536,018, entitled “Methods and Systems for Processing Dredge Spoils,”filed on Sep. 18, 2011, the disclosure of which is incorporated hereinby reference.

BACKGROUND

This invention relates to soils reclamation and, more specifically, inone or more embodiments, to methods and systems for processing dredgespoils to reclaim soil there from.

Dredging is the removal or displacement of material, such as gravel,sand, mud, silt, or other material and debris, from any body of water(e.g., stream, river, or lake), as well as from associated shorelinesand wetlands. Dredging may be done for any of a variety of differentreasons, including construction and maintenance of canals, navigationchannels, turning basins, harbors, dikes, or marinas. Dredging also maybe used for underwater mining activities. The material removed bydredging is commonly referred to as “dredge spoil.” Dredge spoildisposal is the depositing of dredged materials onto land or into bodiesof water for disposal or for the creation of new or additional lands foruse. Drawbacks to current disposal techniques include limitedavailability of land and water suitable for containing the dredgespoils.

Consequently, there is a need for improved methods and systems fordisposal of dredge spoils.

SUMMARY

One aspect of the invention relates to a system for processing dredgespoils, including: a feed system that receives dredge spoils; adewatering system that removes water from the dredge spoils; and agrinder/mixer that grinds the dredge spoils from the dewatering systemwhile mixing the dredge spoils with one or more additional materials togive a reclaimed soil product.

Another aspect of the invention relates to a method for processingdredge spoils, including: receiving dredge spoils to an inlet tank in afeed system; dewatering the dredge spoils to generate dewatered dredgespoils; and grinding the dewatered dredge spoils while mixing thedewatered dredge spoils with an additional material to give a reclaimedsoil product.

Yet another aspect of the invention relates to a method for processingdredge spoils, including: receiving dredge spoils to a feed tank;agitating the dredge spoils in an agitation tank; dewatering the dredgespoils to generate dewatered dredge spoils; grinding the dewatereddredge spoils; and mixing an additional material with the dewatereddredge spoils.

The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technicaladvantages of the present invention in order that the detaileddescription of the invention that follows may be better understood.Additional features and advantages of the invention will be describedhereinafter that form the subject of the claims of the invention. Itshould be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the conceptionand the specific embodiments disclosed may be readily utilized as abasis for modifying or designing other embodiments for carrying out thesame purposes of the present invention. It should also be realized bythose skilled in the art that such equivalent embodiments do not departfrom the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appendedclaims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Advantages of the invention may become apparent upon reading thefollowing detailed description and upon reference to the drawings inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a block flow diagram of a soil reclamation system inaccordance with one embodiment of the present techniques;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatical representation of an equipment layout of asoil reclamation in accordance with one embodiment of the presenttechniques;

FIG. 3 is a process flow diagram of the soil reclamation system inaccordance with one embodiment of the present techniques;

FIG. 4A is a block flow diagram depicting a source of dredge spoils to asoil reclamation system in accordance with one embodiment of the presenttechniques;

FIG. 4B is a block flow diagram depicting another source of dredgespoils to a soil reclamation system in accordance with one embodiment ofthe present techniques; and

FIG. 5 is a block flow diagram of a method of reclaiming soil fromdredge spoils in accordance with one embodiment of the presenttechniques.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

One or more specific embodiments of the present invention will bedescribed below. In an effort to provide a concise description of theseembodiments, not all features of an actual implementation are describedin the specification. It should be appreciated that in the developmentof any such actual implementation, as in any engineering or designproject, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made toachieve the developers' specific goals, such as compliance withsystem-related and business-related constraints, which may vary from oneimplementation to another. Moreover, it should be appreciated that sucha development effort might be complex and time consuming, but wouldnevertheless be a routine undertaking of design, fabrication, andmanufacture for those of ordinary skill in the art and having thebenefit of this disclosure.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary soil reclamation system 10 forprocessing dredge spoils. As discussed below, the system 10 depicted inFIG. 1 generally includes a feed system, a dewatering system, and agrinder/mixer. In the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 1, the reclamationsystem 10 receives dredge spoils 12 and generates a reclaimed soilproduct 14 that may be sent to customers 16. The system 10 may, forexample, continuously process dredge spoils to produce reclaimed soil inaccordance with embodiments of the present invention. In one embodiment,the system may process 2,000 tons per day of dredge spoils 12. It shouldbe understood that the system may be scaled up or down, as desired for aparticular application. Without limitation, the reclaimed soil may besold to a local market, for example. The equipment used in this systemmay be skid mounted, in some embodiments.

The dredge spoils 12 may be any of a variety of different materialsremoved during a dredging operation, but typically include a mixture ofsediment and water, for example. In one embodiment, the dredge spoils 12may be directly fed by a dredge line from an ongoing dredging operation(see FIG. 4A). In another embodiment, the dredge spoils 12 may bere-hydrated dredge spoils supplied from a storage location (see FIG. 4Bas an example). Without limitation, use of dredge spoils 12 from astorage location (not shown) may allow reclamation of land which canthen be used for future storage and/or handling system expansion.

The dredge spoils 12 are received at a feed system 18 that may storeand, in certain examples, treat the dredge spoils 12. The feed system 18may pump or otherwise transport the dredge spoils 12 to furtherprocessing in system 10. The feed system 18 may include a variety ofdifferent inlet equipment including, for example, inlet tanks,filtration equipment, sampling equipment to determine materialcomposition and/or other properties, chemical injection equipment fortreating the dredge spoils to, for example, neutralize any undesirableelements, pumping equipment, and mixing equipment. The dredge spoils 12discharging from the feed system 18 may be identical to the dredgespoils 12 received, or may be dredge spoils 12 that have beenchemically-treated in the feed system 18, for example.

The dredge spoils 12 from the feed system 18 may be fed to thedewatering system 22 for dewatering of the dredge spoils 12. Thedewatering may be accomplished using various techniques. For example,one or more filter presses may be used in series or parallel to treatthe dredge spoils for water removal. The water removed from the dredgespoils may be disposed or returned to a water source, such as a body ofwater being subjected to dredging, for instance. In an embodiment, thewater may be returned to the body of water from which the dredge spoilswere removed.

The dewatered dredge spoils 26 may be fed to a grinder/mixer system 28.The grinder/mixer 28 may grind the dewatered dredge spoils 26 whilemixing them with additional materials 30 fed to the grinder/mixer 28.The grinding and mixing may be accomplished using any suitable method,including a pug mill, for example. In an embodiment, the additionalmaterials 30 fed to the grinder/mixer 28 include one or more of sand orprocessed sewage.

The grinder/mixer 28 may output reclaimed soil in a reclaimed product14. For example, the grinder/mixer 28 may grind the dewatered dredgespoils with the additional material to produce, for example, generalfill, structural fill, topsoil, compost, and/or bedding soil as thereclaimed product 14. The output or reclaimed product 14 from thegrinder/mixer 28 may be fed to a packaging and load out system 32 whichmay include equipment for packaging (e.g., bagging) and bulk handling ofthe reclaimed soil product 14, for load out to rail car or truck fordelivery to the customers 16.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary layout or plot plan of some equipment ofa soil reclamation system 10 for processing dredge spoils 12. At theoutset, it should be emphasized that the depicted layout of theequipment is only exemplary to explain a particular example and notmeant to limit the present invention. Indeed, the arrangement, scale,indicated distances, and so forth, are merely given for the benefit ofthe skill artisan in understanding a specific embodiment of the presenttechniques. Further, the types/amount of equipment employed in system 10for processing dredge spoils may be different in other embodiments.

As discussed, the system 10 may continuously (or in a batch fashion)process dredge spoils 12 to produce reclaimed soil including reclaimedsoil product 14 in certain embodiments. Again, the dredge spoils 12 maybe any of a variety of different materials removed during a dredgingoperation, but typically include a mixture of sediment and water, forexample. In one embodiment, the dredge spoils 12 may be directly fed tothe system by a dredge line from an ongoing dredging operation. Inanother embodiment, the dredge spoils 12 may be re-hydrated dredgespoils supplied to the system from a storage location.

As illustrated, the system 10 may include an inlet tank 42 (feed tank)to which the dredge spoils 12 may be provided. Without limitation, theinlet tank 42 may be used to provide circulation capacity, residencetime, storage, hold-up, and so forth, for the process. Any suitable tankfor handling the dredge spoils may be used. In one embodiment, the inlettank 42 may be an oilfield fractionation tank, commonly referred to as a“frac tank.” In one embodiment, the inlet tank 42 may have a capacity ofabout 500 barrels (22,000 gallons). In some embodiments (notillustrated), filtration equipment may be located prior to the inlettank 42 to screen out larger materials, such as rubbish, chains, tires,etc., from the dredge spoils. Any suitable equipment may be used forfiltration. In an embodiment, a grizzly-type screen may be used for thefiltration.

In some embodiments, a sampling device may be coupled to the inlet tank42 for sampling the dredge spoils 12 contained therein. The samplingdevice may be used to, for example, determine the material compositionof the dredge spoils in the inlet tank. In one embodiment, the samplingdevice may continuously sample the dredge spoils from the inlet tank. Insome embodiments, a chemical injection device may also be coupled to theinlet tank. The chemical injection device may be used to, for example,inject chemicals into the inlet tank 42 for neutralization of anyundesirable elements in the dredge spoils. In an embodiment, thechemicals may be injected in response to the material compositiondetermined by the sampling device.

In some embodiments, dredge spoils 12 from the inlet tank may be fed viaa pump 44 to an agitation tank 46. In one embodiment, the pump 44 may bea 125-horsepower pump. The pump 44 may also be a duplex pump, forexample. The pump 44 may be configured with recirculation back to theinlet tank 42, for example. In one embodiment, the agitation tank 46 mayhave a capacity of about 90 barrels (4,000 gallons). The piping feedsystem for the agitation tank 46 may include, for example, a dilutionwater valve, densometer, densitometer, or other equipment.

In some embodiments, dredge spoils from the agitation tank 46 may be fedto filter presses 48 via one or more pumps (not shown). In oneembodiment, the four 600 gallon per minute pumps may be used to feed thedredge spoils from the agitation tank 46 to the filter presses 48. Thefilter presses 48 may dewater the dredge spoils 46. The filter presses48 may include any of a variety of different filter presses suitable fordewatering the dredge spoils. In one embodiment, the filter presses 46may include four 15 dry ton per hour filter presses.

In certain embodiments, an elevated platform 50 may be constructedaround the filter presses 48 and/or part of a support structure of thefilter presses 48, to facilitate access to the filter presses 48. One ormore ladders 52 may be incorporated as part of the platform 50.Moreover, an area 54 may be designated for possible expansion to addmore filter presses. In the illustrated embodiment, the area 54corresponds to a potential another train of four filter presses andassociated platform for possible addition. The entire process isscalable.

In some examples, a central footprint 56 (e.g., an inside battery limitor other characterization as understood by the skilled artisan) may bedesignated or realized. The various equipment of the system 10 may bearranged within or outside the central footprint 56, depending onconstruction, operating, and/or maintenance needs, for instance, andwhether mobile or stationary, and so on. In the illustrated embodiment,the central footprint 56 has a width dimension 58 and a length dimension60. Of course, other geometries may be realized or employed. In theillustrated example, the width 58 is 125 feet and the length 60 is 130feet.

In some embodiments, the filter presses 48 may be arranged in series anddischarge to a conveyor 49 operating toward a grinder/mixer 62. Thedewatered dredge spoils 26 (FIG. 1) from the filter presses 48 may befed to grinder/mixer 62 (e.g., a pug mill in the grinder/mixer system 28of FIG. 1) via the conveyor 49. Any suitable conveyor may be used forfeeding the grinder/mixer 62 or pug mill, including mobile conveyors. Inan embodiment, the conveyor 49 may be an 80 foot by 36 inch conveyorhaving a 70 ton per hour capacity.

The grinder/mixer 62 (e.g., a pug mill) may grind the dewatered dredgespoils 26 (FIG. 1) while mixing them with additional materials fed tothe grinder/mixer 62 to produce, for example, topsoil, compost, beddingsoil, and/or structural fill as reclaimed product 14. As illustrated,the grinder/mixer 62 or pug mill may be fed additional materials 30(FIG. 1), such as sand 30A and processed sewage 30B (and/or otherorganic additives) from a storage holding location, mobile vehicle, ormobile container, and so forth (at the boundary of the central footprint54 in the illustrated example).

The type and amount of additional materials 30 stored and added to thegrinder/mixer 62 may be based on a number of requirements, including,for example, the desired reclaimed soil product 14 to be produced by thesystem. In certain embodiments one or more conveyers 64 (e.g., conveyerbelt, mobile stacker, module stacker, etc.) may feed the sand 30A andprocessed sewage 30B (and/or other organic additives) to the grindermixer 28. In one embodiment, a single 44 foot by 36 inch mobile conveyor64 having a 70 ton per hour capacity may be used to feed the sand 30Aand processed sewage 30B to the grinder/mixer 62. Of course, othersources and techniques for feeding sand, processes sewage, and/or otherorganic additives may be employed. Moreover, in one embodiment, thedewatered dredge spoils 26 may be mixed in the grinder/mixer 62 in abouta 1:1 ratio with sand.

In some embodiments, reclaimed soil (e.g., reclaimed soil product 14 ofFIG. 1) from the grinder/mixer 62 (e.g., pug mill in a grinder/mixersystem 28 of FIG. 1) is loaded out to a rail car 66 situated on a railtrack 68 for bulk distribution to customers 16. (FIG. 1). The product 14may also be loaded to a truck 70 for bulk distribution, for example.

In the illustrated embodiment, two conveyers 72 and 74 meeting at ajunction 76 deliver the product 14 to the rail car 66 or truck 70. Theconveyers 72 and 74 may each be a mobile stacker, module stacker, amobile or a fixed conveyer belt, and the like. In one embodiment, theconveyer 72 may be a 28 foot by 36 inch module stacker having a capacityof about 70 tons per hour. In one embodiment, the conveyer 74 may be a60 foot by 36 inch mobile stacker having a capacity of 70 tons per hour.In some embodiments, the grinder/mixer 62 may have a diverter section tofacilitate that the grinder/mixer 62 can discharge to conveyers 72 and74 for loading the rail car 66 or truck 70.

In some embodiments, the reclaimed soil product 14 may also be deliveredto bagging equipment 78 via a conveyer 80, and the bags filled with thereclaimed soil product 14 stacked on palletizers by palletizingequipment 82, for example. The conveyer 80 may be a mobile stacker,module stacker, a mobile or fixed conveyer belts, and the like. In oneembodiment, the conveyor 80 may be a 50 foot by 36 inch fixed conveyor.Moreover, in certain embodiments, the conveyer 80 may be used to conveythe reclaimed soil product 14 from the grinder/mixer 62 to a hopper ontop of the bagging equipment 78, for example.

Any suitable equipment may be used for bagging the reclaimed soil. Inone embodiment, the bagging equipment 78 may have a capacity of about 4to about 11 bags per minute. It should be understood that the capacityof the bagging equipment 78 may be based on a number of factors,including, for example, market requirements. At 4 bags per minute,pallets can be loaded and plastic wrapped manually, for example. At 11bags per minute, a semi-automatic palletizer/wrapper can be used tosatisfy the bagging rate. The filled bags and/or pallets of the filledbags may be situated in pallets/bags storage area 84. Moreover, emptybags and pallets may be stored in the area 82 and available for use bythe bagging equipment 78 and palletizer 82, for instance.

Lastly, as appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, the facility(site) and/or the soil reclamation system 10 may have one or morestorage tanks 86 (for feeds or products) or potential storage tanks 86,a control station 88, an office 90, and a motor control center (MCC) 92.The control station 86 may include a computer or programmable logiccontroller (PLC), for example, and used to facilitate control of thefilter presses 48, grinder/mixer 62, bagging equipment 78 andpalletizing equipment 82, conveyors, bulk load out, and associatedequipment and other systems such as in the upstream feed system, and soforth. The MCC 92 may facilitate electrical supply to and control ofmotors at the site, such as motors associated with pumps, agitation tank46, filter presses 48, grinder/mixer 62, and other equipment.

FIG. 3 is a process flow diagram of an exemplary soil reclamation system10. At the outset, it should be noted that exemplary capacities of thestorage, processing, unit operations, conveying, bagging, and so on,previously discussed with regard to FIGS. 1 and 2 may apply to FIG. 3.As shown in FIG. 3, the dredge spoils 12 are received at a storage tank42 (e.g., feed tank, inlet tank, surge tank, etc.). The feed system 18having the storage tank 42 may provide a beneficial interface betweenthe source of dredge spoils source and the further treatment in the soilreclamation system 10. Indeed, employment of the feed system 18 may makefeasible the receipt and disclosed processing of the dredge spoils incertain examples.

As discussed, the dredge spoils 12 may be obtained from an activedredging operation and/or from a Dredge Material Placement Area (DMPA).In the case of obtaining the dredge spoils 12 from the DMPA, the dredgespoil collected from the DMPA may be hydrated with water prior toproviding the dredge spoils 12 to the storage tank 42.

As indicated, the storage tank may be a frac tank, for example, such asa frac tank employed to hold water or proppants in oil fieldapplications. In certain examples, the storage tank 42 may be mobile orportable. Indeed, it may be beneficial to situate the storage tank nearan on-going dredging operation or adjacent to a particular portion of aDMPA, for instance. In certain operations, the storage tank 42 mayoperate with a relatively short residence time as a feed tank instead ofas long-term storage.

Further, the dredge spoils 12 in the storage tank 42 may be sampled andtested for material composition. Also, the dredge spoils 12 in thestorage tank 42 may be chemically treated to neutralize or removeundesirable components, for example. Such treatment may be in responseto the testing (testing results) of the dredge spoils 12 sampled fromthe storage tank 42.

In the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 3, the dredge spoils 12 (whetheruntreated or treated with chemical addition) are fed via a pump 44 fromthe storage tank 42 to an agitation tank 46. The agitation tank 46 stirsor agitates the dredge spoils 12 to provide for more homogeneity of thedredge spoils 12, for example. As discussed below, the dredge spoils 12in the agitation tank 46 may be sampled and tested, and/orchemically-treated. Moreover, it should be noted that the in certainembodiments, the storage tank 42 is mobile and the agitation tank 46 isstationary. Of course, other configurations are contemplated. Moreover,in alternate embodiments, the storage tank 42 and agitation tank 46 maybe combined into a single vessel or single unit operation.

The dredge spoils 20 discharging from the agitation tank 46 are fed viaa pump 100 to a filter press 48 (i.e., a train of filter presses). Thewater 24 removed from the dredge spoils via the filter press 48 may bedisposed. On the other hand, the water 24 may be recycled to an upstreambody of water undergoing the dredging operation, or used to hydratedredge spoils collected from a DMPA, and so on. The operation of thefilter presses 48 may be batch, semi-continuous, or continuous, asappreciated by the skilled artisan.

The dewatered dredge spoils 26 discharging from the filter presses 48,and which may still contain some moisture, are fed to a grinder/mixer62. As discussed, the grinder/mixer 62 may grind the dewatered dredgespoils 26 while mixing them with additional materials 30 fed to thegrinder/mixer 28. In one example, the grinder/mixer 62 is a plug mill.In an embodiment, the additional materials 30 fed to the grinder/mixer62 include sand 30A and/or processed sewage 30B. The grinder/mixer 62may output reclaimed soil in a reclaimed soil product 14. For example,the grinder/mixer 62 grinding of the dewatered dredge spoils 26 with theadditional material 30 produces, for example, the output reclaimed soilproduct 14 may be topsoil, compost, and/or bedding soil, and the like.

The output or reclaimed product 14 from the grinder/mixer 62 may be fedto a bagging system 102 where bags are filled with the product 14. Thebags filled with the reclaimed soil product 14 may loaded (e.g., onpallets) into a truck 104 or rail car 106, and sent to customers 16.Further, the reclaimed product 14 may bypass 108 the bagging system 102,and be loaded in bulk into the truck 104 and railcar 106 for delivery tothe customers 16. It should be noted that the bagging system 102, truck104, and railcar 106 in FIG. 3 may generally correspond to similarelements depicted in FIG. 2 in certain examples

A sampling system 110 may be included in the soil reclamation system 10.The sampling system 110 may include piping, valves, containers,cylinders, and small vessels, etc. to provide for manual sampling and/oronline sampling of dredge spoils throughout the soil reclamation system110. As depicted by the reference numeral 112 in the illustratedembodiment of FIG. 3, a sample point may include the agitation tank 46.Of course, dredge spoils may be sampled at other points or locations inthe soil reclamation system 10, such as at the storage tank 42, filterpresses 48, grinder/mixer 62, and so on. In one embodiment, thereclaimed soil product 14 is sampled at the discharge of thegrinder/mixer 62. The reclaimed product 14 may also be sampled furtherdownstream, such as in the packaging and load out area including as at afeed hopper to the bagging operation, for example, or in the bulkloading of a rail car or truck, for instance, and so on. Indeed, thefinal product 14 may be sampled (and tested).

The dredge spoils sampled at the various locations in reclamation system10 may be tested for undesirable components, desirable quality, density,average particle size, particle size distribution, water, moisture, andso forth. Undesirable components may include organics, inorganics, salt,hydrocarbons, etc. The testing for quality, various undesirablecomponents, and other properties may involve analyzing samples (e.g.,collected manually) in a laboratory, such as at an on-site laboratory ora remote laboratory. The testing may also include on-line analysis withon-line instrumentation. Indeed, as indicated, the sampling system 110may include on-line sampling features and on-line analyticalinstrumentation, as appreciated by the skilled artisan.

The reclaimed soil system 10 may also include a chemical treatmentsystem 114. In the illustrated embodiment, chemical injection 116 isprovided to the agitation tank 46 and grinder/mixer 62. Chemicalinjection may also be provided at other points in the soil reclamationsystem 10, such as to the storage tank 42, at inlet piping of dredgespoils to the storage tank 42, or other piping/pumping in thereclamation system 10, and so on. The chemical injection may be inresponse to the sampling and testing performed, as indicated byreference numeral 118. It should be noted that a desalination operationof the dredge spoils may be implemented.

Referring now to FIGS. 4A and 4B. FIG. 4A depicts a dredge spoil supplyand treatment system 130A. In this embodiment, a dredging operation 132is a source of the dredge spoils 12 provided to the feed system of thereclamation system 10. In an alternate embodiment, FIG. 4B depicts adredge spoil supply and treatment system 130B in which a DMPA 134 is asource of the dredge spoils 12 provided to the soil reclamation system10. In the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 4B, water 136 is added tohydrate the dredge spoils obtained from the DMPA 134 to provide dredgespoils 12 as hydrated for delivery to and use by the feed system in thereclamation system 10. The source of the water 136 may be recycled waterfrom the soil reclamation system 10, water from a local body of water,or merely potable or industrial water, and so on.

FIG. 5 is an exemplary method 140 of reclaiming soil from dredge spoils12 to produce a reclaimed soil product 14. Initially, the dredge spoils12 are received (block 142) at a feed system 18 of a reclamation system10 (FIGS. 1-3). As discussed, the dredge spoils 12 may be receiveddirectly from a dredging operation, or from a DMPA, for example. Thedredge spoils 12 are dewatered (block 144), such as in filter pressesand/or with other unit operations or equipment. The dewatered dredgespoils 28 are subjected to grinding/mixing, as depicted by referencenumeral 146. In certain embodiments, the dewatered dredge spoils 28 maybe subjected to grinding while mixed with one or more additionalmaterials 30 (e.g., sand, processed sewage, etc.). In a particularexample, such grinding/mixing is performed in a pug mill. The output ofthe grinding/mixing (block 146) may be the reclaimed soil product 14.Lastly, the reclaimed soil product 14 may be packaged and/or loaded, andnoted in block 148, and shipped to customers 16. The reclaimed soilproduct 14 may be packaged in bags, drums, box containers, and so forth.Such packaging may be loaded out onto rail cars, trucks, etc. fordelivery to customers 16. Moreover, the reclaimed soil product 14 may beloaded in bulk without packaging to rail cars or trucks, etc., fordelivery to customers 16. The packaging and loading of the reclaimedsoil product 14 (e.g., topsoil, compost, bedding soil, etc.) may involvestorage and bulk handling of the product 14, including the equipmentoperations discussed with regard to FIGS. 1-3, for example.

The construction of a process facility that includes the soilreclamation system 10 in accordance with embodiments of the presentinvention may incorporate hazards mitigation with regards to stormsurges up to 20 or more feet, which includes storm surges associatedwith a Category 4 hurricane. Hazards mitigation may consider all primarymechanical, electrical, and/or instrumentation components. In someembodiments, the process facility may be constructed to withstand a windload of 140 miles per hour.

In summary, the present techniques provide for a system (e.g., a soilreclamation system) for processing dredge spoils, including a feedsystem that receives dredge spoils, a dewatering system (e.g., includingfilter presses) that removes water from the dredge spoils, and agrinder/mixer (e.g., pug mill) that grinds the dredge spoils from thedewatering system while mixing the dredge spoils with one or moreadditional materials to give a reclaimed soil product. The feed systemmay include a feed tank (e.g., frac tank) that receives the dredgespoils from a dredging operation and/or from a DMPA. Further, the feedsystem may include an agitation tank that mixes the dredge spoils fromthe feed tank. The soil reclamation system may include a sampling systemconfigured to sample or facilitate sampling of the dredge spoils fromthe agitation tank or at other locations, and a chemical treatmentsystem that injects a chemical into the dredge spoils in the agitationtank or at other locations. Lastly, the soil reclamation system mayinclude a bagging system to bag the reclaimed soil product (e.g.,topsoil, compost, and/or bedding soil, etc.), and a solids conveyer totransport the reclaimed soil product from the grinder/mixer to thebagging system.

The present techniques provide for a method for processing dredgespoils, including receiving dredge spoils to an inlet tank (feed orstorage tank) in a feed system (e.g., from a dredging operation and/orfrom a DMPA). The method may include hydrating the dredge spoils fromthe DMPA prior to receiving the dredge spoils at the inlet tank. Themethod may include dewatering the dredge spoils (e.g., via filterpresses) to generate dewatered dredge spoils, and grinding the dewatereddredge spoils while mixing the dewatered dredge spoils with anadditional material (e.g., sand, processed sewage, etc.) to give areclaimed soil product. The method includes agitating the dredge spoilsin the feed system, sampling and/or chemically treating the dredgespoils in the feed system or other locations. The method may alsoinclude transporting water removed from the dredge spoils in thedewatering to a water body undergoing a dredging operation.

Although the present invention and its advantages have been described indetail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions andalterations may be made herein without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. Althoughindividual embodiments are discussed herein, the invention covers allcombinations of all those embodiments.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for processing dredge spoils,comprising: a feed system that receives dredge spoils; a dewateringsystem that removes water from the dredge spoils; and a grinder/mixerthat grinds the dredge spoils from the dewatering system while mixingthe dredge spoils with one or more additional materials to give areclaimed soil product.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the feedsystem has a feed tank that receives the dredge spoils from a dredgingoperation and/or from a Dredge Material Placement Area (DMPA).
 3. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the feed tank comprises a frac tank.
 4. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the feed system comprises an agitation tankthat mixes the dredge spoils from the feed tank.
 5. The system of claim4, comprising a sampling system configured to sample or facilitatesampling of the dredge spoils from the agitation tank.
 6. The system ofclaim 4, comprising a chemical treatment system that injects a chemicalinto the dredge spoils in the agitation tank.
 7. The system of claim 1,wherein the dewatering system comprises a filter press to remove waterfrom the dredge spoils.
 8. The system of claim 1, wherein thegrinder/mixer comprises a pug mill.
 9. The system of claim 1,comprising: a bagging system to bag the reclaimed soil product; and asolids conveyer to transport the reclaimed soil product from thegrinder/mixer to the bagging system.
 10. The system of claim 1, whereinthe reclaimed soil product comprises topsoil, compost, and/or beddingsoil.
 11. A method for processing dredge spoils, comprising: receivingdredge spoils to an inlet tank in a feed system; dewatering the dredgespoils to generate dewatered dredge spoils; and grinding the dewatereddredge spoils while mixing the dewatered dredge spoils with anadditional material to give a reclaimed soil product.
 12. The method ofclaim 11, wherein receiving comprises receiving the dredge spoils from adredging operation and/or from a DMPA.
 13. The method of claim 12,comprising hydrating the dredge spoils from the DMPA prior to receivingthe dredge spoils at the inlet tank.
 14. The method of claim 11,comprising agitating the dredge spoils in the feed system.
 15. Themethod of claim 11, comprising sampling and/or chemically treating thedredge spoils in the feed system.
 16. The method of claim 11, whereindewatering comprises dewatering the dredge spoils with a filter press.17. The method of claim 11, comprising transporting water removed fromthe dredge spoils in the dewatering to a water body undergoing adredging operation.
 18. The method of claim 11, wherein the additionalmaterial comprises sand and/or processed sewage.
 19. A method forprocessing dredge spoils, comprising: receiving dredge spoils to a feedtank; agitating the dredge spoils in an agitation tank; dewatering thedredge spoils to generate dewatered dredge spoils; grinding thedewatered dredge spoils; and mixing an additional material with thedewatered dredge spoils.
 20. The method of claim 11, wherein the mixingand grinding are a combined operation that generates reclaimed productincluding reclaimed soil and the additional material, wherein theadditional material is sand, processed sewage, and/or another organicadditive.